Chair



(Modem ZSheet-Sheet 1.

s. L. SAUNDERS.

Chair. No. 241,728. Patented May 17,1881.

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S. L. SAUNDERS. Chair. No. 241,728. Patented May 17, 1881.

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UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUELL -L. SAUNDERS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,728, dated May 17, 1881.

Application filed May 17, 1880. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUELL L. SAUNDERS, of Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chairs, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,'is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of chairs for the useof sewing-machine operators and other sittingoperatives, and is designed to render the chairs more readily adapted to the requirements of different operators and to the different positions of the operators while at work; and it consists, first, in mounting the chair-seat, having an ordinary back attached thereto, upon a base or stool-like frame made separate from the seat and back, with elliptic springs interposed between said seat and frame, with their ends bearing against and secured to the under side of the seat and their middle bearing upon and connected to said frame in such amannerthat while said springs yield to the weight upon the seat to permit a slight up-and-down motion, they also serve.

as rockers to said seat, by virtue of which the chair-seat may be slightly tilted forward or backward to accommodate the desired posi tion of the operator.

It further consists in a chair provided with a rocking and yielding seat mounted upon a frame having legs made in two parts,,with springs interposed between them in such a manner that either leg may yield independently of the others, or all may yield alike or (lifferently.

It further consists in a chair mounted upon yielding or spring legs adapted to be adjusted to different lengths to vary the height of the chair without changing the tension of the springs, as will be hereinafter described.

It further consists in a chair provided with a series of three or more legs, each composed of a metal tube secured to the chair seat or frame by brackets or arms, a rod or cylinder which passes through said tube, and a spring inclosed in said tube and surrounding said rod or cylinder between shoulders in such amanner that the tension of said spring shall tend to lengthen said leg, and a stop to limit said extension of the le It further consists in a chair-deg composed of a tube or hollow cylinder provided with brackets or arms for securing it to the chair seat-orframe, and an inwardly-projectin g shoulder, a rod or cylinder passing through said tube and provided with an adjust-able collar or shoulder, a spring inclosed in said tube and surrounding said rod between its adjustable collar or shoulderand the inwardly-projecting shoulder of said tube, and an adjustable stop to limit the endwise movement of said inner rod or cylinder by the tension of the spring.

Figure 1 of the'drawings is a front elevation of a chair embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation, the cuttingplane being on line a" or on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation, the cutting-plane being on line y 3 on Fig. 2. Fig. at is a plan of the seat-supporting frame and springs with seat and back removed, and Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional elevation of one of the legs of the seatsupporting frame.

A is the chair-seat, and B the back, of ordinary construction. The seat A, instead of having legs set in its under side in the usual way, has secured thereto two elliptic or leaf springs, G G, by means of screws cm, which pass through slots 7) 1) formed in each end of said springs, said slots serving to permit a slight endwise movement or elongation of said spring when it is depressed by the weight of a person sitting upon the seat.

D is a skeleton frame, provided with a raised rib, 0, around its outer edge, which surrounds and partially incloses the edge of the seat A, while the body of the frame extends under the seat to form a support for said seat through the medium of the sprin gs C G,which, being curved, as shown in Fig. 2, hear at or near the middle of their lengths upon the frame D, to which they are loosely secured by means of unequal armed staples d d, the two pins or lugs c 0 projecting upward from the upper side of said diameter is reduced to fit the diameter ofsaid rod, so as to form a bearing therefor, and also to form a shoulder, g, against which the upper end of the spiral spring h, which surrounds the rod F, between it and the tube or cylinder.

E, bears, the opposite end of said spring bearing against the adjustable collar or sleevei' surrounding said rod F, and filling the space between itand the'lower end of the cylinder E.

The spring It tends to force the rod F down ward and project it farther out'of the lower end of the cylinder E but this tendency is counteracted at a given point by the stop-pin j coming in contact with the upper end of the cylinder E. The collar or sleeve 2' is prevented from 'movingdownward upon the rod Fbeyond a given point by the stop-pin is, as shown but when-the weight of the-operator is placed upon the seat A the springs It will yield and allow the cylinders E to move downward upon the rods F till the tension of the combined springs shall be sufficient to sustain the load.

If the chair is too high, the legs may be readily made shorter by moving the stop-pin 70 into the hole l and the stop-pin j into the hole on,

whereby the length of the part of the rod F which projects below the'lower end of the cyl inder E is reduced in an obvious manner.

By this construction'a very desirable end is attainedviz., the adaptability of the chair to the varying positions of the operator while at work, the adjustability of the height of the chair to the job in hand or to thesize of the operator, and an almost entire disappearance of the unpleasant jar and tremble experienced by the operator sitting in an ordinary chair in a building wherelarge quantities of machiner are in operation. 1

ate substantially asand for the purposes de- What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States,'is-- 1. The combination of the seat A, the springrockers O O, the skeleton-frame D, provided so with legs, each made in two parts and provided with a spring, all so constructed and arranged that the seat may be tilted to the front or rear and yield vertically upon the supporting-frame, and each of the legs shall have an 5 5 independent yielding movement, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the chair-seat A, the spring-rockers G O, and a frame supported by legs, each made in two parts adjustable relathe to each other, and having a spring interposed between them, substantiall y as and for the purposes described.

3. A chair provided with legs, each composed'of a tube attached to the chair-frame by brackets, a central rod or cylinder extending through said tube at both ends, and a spring surrounding said central rod and within said tube, between a shoulder projecting inward frcm'said tube and a shoulder on said rod,

substantially as described.

4. A chair-leg composed of the hollow cylinder E, provided with the brackets f f, and the inwardly-projecting shoulder or collar g, the central rod, F, adjustable sleeve 'ifltlld the spring h, all arranged and adapted to operate substantially as andfor the purposes described.

5. The combination, in a chair-leg, of the hollow cylinder E, provided with the in wardlyprojecting shoulder g, the central rod, F, provided with two or more transverse holes, l, and two or more transverse holes, at, the movable sleeve 2', spring h, and the stop-pins j and 7:, all constructed, arranged, and adapted to oper- 5 scribed.

Executed at Boston, Massachusetts, this 27th day of April, A. D. 1880.

SAMUELL L. SAUNDERS. Witnesses:

E. A. HEMM-ENWAY, WALTER, E. LOMBARD. 

